5 Holiday Hairstyles For Your Little Girl

My daughter has long hair, begging to be put in some cute style. But I have a problem–when it comes to styling hair, I have two left hands and not a creative brain cell in sight. What’s a mom to do? Enter Cozy Friedman, owner of Cozy’s Cuts for Kids, who gives us five styles with easy-to-follow instructions on how you can do your girl’s hair for the holidays. . . and beyond.

The Heart Braid

One of the most popular girls’ hairstyles from my book: Cozy’s Complete Guide to Girls’ Hair, is the Heart Braid. Girls love this beautiful braid, and luckily for parents, it isn’t that hard to do! All you need is 15 minutes, and a little practice.

Step 1: Starting with damp hair (either towel-dried or misted), use a wide-tooth comb to detangle the hair. Then, using a fine-tooth comb, part the hair down the middle of the head. Clip one side up right above the ear.

Step 2: On the other side of the part, use the fine comb to gather a thin section of hair from the crown. This section should measure about 2 inches from the hairline to the top of the head.

Step 3: Divide this section into three, and begin a French braid starting at the crown and curving toward the temple, then toward the back of the head, like the top lobe of a heart. You will be lifting hair into the braid only from this side of the part. Leave no loose hair in front of the ear.

Step 4: When you reach the center part at the back of the head, secure the braid with a ponytail holder. If the hair is very long, end the braid about mid ear; the ends will hang down the back.

Step 5: Clip up the hair on the other side of the part and repeat the process. Secure with a ponytail holder.

Step 6: Join the two ends of the braids together in the back with a ponytail holder to form the bottom point of the heart.

The Hippie Chick

There’s nothing fussy or frilly about this all-natural flower child. The hair should be long enough to create braids that can be joined behind the head. Any accessories can be pushed into the braid, or tucked in at the hairline or beneath the ponytail holder.

Step 1: Part combed hair in the center.

Step 2: On one side of the part near the hairline, pick up a 1-inch section of hair and braid it. Secure with a small ponytail holder.

Step 3: Repeat on the other side of the part, to create a second braid. Join the ends of the two braids together with a small ponytail holder at the back of the head. Leave the remaining hair loose, flowing, and natural.

Step 4: Accessorize with a cute, trendy accessory like a feather.

French Braid Headband

If your daughter prefers to wear her hair down, a French Braid Headband is the perfect way to dress up a straight style for a special occasion.

Step 1: Start with damp hair and use a wide-tooth comb to detangle.

Step 2: Using a fine-tooth comb, draw a horizontal line across the crown from the top of one ear to the top of the other ear. From the line, comb the hair forward to the face. Pull the hair in the back of the line into a ponytail holder or clip to separate it from the braid.

Step 3: Tilt the head so the ear you’ve chosen to start with is facing up toward the ceiling. With your child’s ear tilted up, begin making the braided headband using the hair in front of the part. French-braid tightly across the crown and down to the other side, gathering small sections from above the part.

Step 4: Once you’ve reached the other ear, secure the braid with an elastic. Remove the rest of the hair from the holder or clip and style as you like.

The Double Twist

This is a dainty look for little ones. You can use matching barrettes or ones that cutely clash!

Step 1: Using the fine-tooth comb, part hair either in the middle or to one side.

Step 2: Gather a small section of hair, approximately an inch wide, from one side of the part at the front of the head. Tightly twist the section toward the part clockwise, so the twist “opens” upward rather than downward. Keep the twist close to the scalp, working in more hair as you go, and ending the twist at the crown of the head. Secure with a pretty clip at the crown.

Step 3: Repeat on the other side of the part. If hair is fine – and the barrette might slide off – you may want to secure the twists with bobby pins before adding the clip.

The Basic Bun

This simple way of scooping hair up always makes girls feel grown-up. Don’t make the bun too tight.

Step 1: Gather hair in a loose ponytail.

Step 2: Twist the ponytail into a tight rope, coiling it around itself at the base.

Step 3: Tuck the ends of the coil into the ponytail holder at the base. Then secure the bun by pushing bobby pins into the hair at the bun’s base on all sides. Lightly spritz the bun with hair spray to lock in the style.

Love receiving tips that make your life easier? Then sign up for the Breezy Mama newsletter– it’s free! Even better, you’ll automatically be entered to win a Sashay Satchel from Petunia Pickle Bottom (a $119 value)! Hurry and enter your email here:

About Cozy Friedman: Cozy Friedman is the creator of the So Cozy product line and founder of Cozy’s Cuts for Kids and author of Cozy’s Complete Guide to Girls Hair. She is an expert authority on cool, childhood style and recognizes – and celebrates – that children today are more style-conscious than ever. Decades ago, getting a child to take a bath was a challenge but now, thanks to places like Cozy’s Cuts for Kids and product lines such as So Cozy, children are embracing grooming from a very young age. Cozy has coined this trend the “metro mini” phenomenon and believes that encouraging it in a healthy way allows children to be expressive and self-confident.